Veterans honored on anniversary of end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam War

Jack Strong peered inside the Vietnam-era V-100 Commando armored car on display Saturday and reflected on the “biggest toy” he drove nearly six decades earlier.

He would hop onto the massive 4-foot tall tires and climb into the driver’s seat through a hatch — often revealing pools of rainwater that had seeped in. On a typical patrol, a radio operator manned the back and another soldier operated the twin M2 machine guns in a top turret, he said.

Strong, 76, who served in the Army, said it had been a long time since he last saw a V-100 before Suffolk County’s 50th anniversary event to commemorate the end of the Vietnam War for the United States.

Nearly 400 people — most of whom were Vietnam veterans — filled Armed Forces Plaza near the county government H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge for what officials described as a welcome home party and celebration of the estimated 21,000 Vietnam veterans who call Suffolk County home.

The V-100 and an M114 Command and Reconnaissance Carrier were two of the vehicles on display in partnership with the Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage.

Officials planned the event to align with National Vietnam War Veterans Day, which marks March 29, 1973, as the date when the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam. The war formally ended on April 30, 1975.

“It’s a celebration to say thank you and we remember your service to this country,” County Executive Edward P. Romaine said in an interview.

During an hourlong ceremony, speakers from Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) to Legis. Chad Lennon (R-Rocky Point) recounted the difficulties Vietnam War veterans faced when returning home to a divided country where some of those who didn’t support the war took out that frustration on the service members — many of whom had been drafted.

Lennon said he was welcomed home as a Marine Corps veteran from Afghanistan because of the Vietnam veterans who paved the way.

“Now it’s upon my generation to carry that torch forward to make sure that the way they were treated never happens again,” he said in an interview. 

Vietnam veteran and former Suffolk Judge John J. Toomey Jr. served as the keynote speaker and reflected on the soldiers he served alongside in the Army in his roles as a rifleman, machine-gunner and squad leader.

“They viewed themselves as ordinary guys, but they were far from ordinary,” he said. “They were extraordinary. They were patriotic. They were humble. They were scared. And they were ever-so young.”

Ed German, 74, of Flanders, wore a full uniform to the event as he often does on Veterans Day or at similar events. German, who served in the Marine Corps, recalled how his girlfriend in the late ’60s requested he didn’t wear his uniform to her high school graduation. Many veterans, he said, just wanted to blend in when they got home.

But years later, he realized he should honor that time served and purchased a replica uniform similar to the one he wore during Vietnam. He proudly wears it today.

During the war German survived a bullet wound, a fate not uncommon to many of the veterans gathered Saturday.

Frank Scolaro, 80, of Mount Sinai, suffered 13 wounds in both legs, abdomen, chest and his left arm from a grenade when he served in the Army in the 1st Air Cavalry Division.

On the plane ride home, he said he took his uniform off in the bathroom to avoid being harassed.

On Saturday, he and the other veterans received a far different reception.

“For them to honor us like this, it’s great,” Scolaro said.

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

---